chopped ground prong = no go?

[invisible man]

I found a really good deal locally on a Music Man 212-65, which is very tempting as I've been GASsing for 40+ watt Fender silverface Reverb amps but can't afford them right now. I asked a few questions, and the three prong cord has had the ground prong clipped. I haven't had a chance to use what little electronics knowledge I learned, and so haven't retained it very well. My gut tells me this is a big problem, maybe enough to forget about the whole thing. How would the clipping of this prong compromise the amp long term? Obviously replacing the cord would be relatively simple for a tech, but has greater damage already been done to other components? I probably shouldn't even be spending the relatively little money they are asking, please just tell me it's to good to be true and move on...

[countertext]

I don’t know what potential problems you might face, but both vintage Fender amps I own were acquired with missing or broken ground prongs, and after replacing the plug-ends of the cords, they both work and sound as great as the should.

I would have thought the greater likelihood of damage was to the previous owner’s electro-cardiac regularity. “I heard an old man died on that amp. It’s hainted now.”

[oid]

Having no ground prong will not harm the amp, it just means if neutral and hot are backwards the chassis and therefore your guitar strings will be live. This is not really a issue as long as you do not have it plugged into anything properly grounded and you do not touch anything grounded while also touching the strings.Just do not touch anything that could be grounded while you test it out and you will be fine, even if you do happen to touch a ground you will likely be fine, you will just feel a tingle. If the amp works and sounds good just pickup a new plug from the hardware store and install it, all will be well.

Live chassis have been made illegal for good reason, but the chances of anything bad happening are small, and can be just as safe as a grounded amp if you know what you are doing, but they have killed at least one person back in the days when a loophole allowed live chassis in guitar amps. Likely millions have used such amps for decades with no more then an occasional shock, just not worth the risk considering how inexpensive a new plug end is.

[øøøøøøø]

Replace the plug end. No big deal at all; no soldering required. Most have screw terminals. Gold screw = black wire. Green screw = green wire. Silver screw = white wire.

Done!

[muchxs]

Having no ground prong will not harm the amp, it just means if neutral and hot are backwards the chassis and therefore your guitar strings will be live. This is not really a issue as long as you do not have it plugged into anything properly grounded and you do not touch anything grounded while also touching the strings.Just do not touch anything that could be grounded while you test it out and you will be fine, ...

Yeah, it could kill you but it probably won't.

It might hum like Bobby McFerrin under certain circumstances.

The quick 'n' dirty is to trot on down to Lowe's or Home Depot, get a new three conductor plug and wire it on. Have someone do it for you if you don't know how.

Amp Tech Rule To Live By Number One:

"For every problem you can see there are probably two more you can't see."

My experience has been rock 'n' roll can be very hard on musicians and gear. IMO music should have a warning on it like cigarettes. If you make it past 28 years old you might be o.k. but let's take a moment and consider all the musicians who didn't. Home Depot sells an 8' "medium duty" replacement cord. Restore it to "like new" condition with power cord that has a molded plug that won't get damaged the first time you trip over the cord.

If nothing else is right the power supply should be wired so it provides a ground path to a solid ground, otherwise you might provide the ground path. Don't assume it will just be a "tingle". Buddy of mine tells a story of a rained out outdoors concert that killed a whole herd of cows.

While you're at it have the amp checked for other safety issues such as the dreaded 20 amp fuse "borrowed" from an old Chevy or the equally common fuse wrapped in tinfoil.